Manhack

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The Manhack, referred to as the Viscerator by the Overwatch Voice, and simply called the Hack by Citizens and Rebels, is a flying device used by the Combine. It features three razor-sharp blades, which constantly spin at high speeds, and gyroscopic sensors that help it steady itself in the air.[1]

The Manhack's spinning blades produce a high-pitched whirring sound, which is often an indicator of its proximity. Its blades are powerful enough to cut and break through wooden obstacles, but not through stronger materials such as metal or concrete. Manhacks are programmed with very little concept of self-preservation, careening off walls and through objects in their single-minded pursuit of their target, causing damage to it upon collision. They are especially deadly in confined spaces such as alleyways, sewers, and small passages.

Manhacks never travel alone and are usually deployed in groups of four or more; they are sometimes accompanied by other Combine troops. Thanks to their small size, they can enter areas inaccessible to other units. Some Civil Protection officers additionally carry up to two of them on their person and can deploy them in battle.

They appear to have some resistance to gunfire, and are more easily destroyed by being smashed with a hard object. Attacking a Manhack with a Crowbar or pushing or punting it with the Gravity Gun causes it to become disoriented, and lose interest in its target for a few moments as it re-stabilizes itself. During this, the red light on the Manhack turns orange and the machine emits a high-pitched warning signal; a second Crowbar blow or Gravity Gun primary fire punt is lethal. Using the Gravity Gun, Manhacks can also be launched into walls, which instantly destroys them, or even other Manhacks and enemies. They can alternatively be used as a chainsaw-like weapon.

What may consist in the oldest model is only found as its texture files in the leak, in the model texture folder obsolete/ManhackOld. It suggests a completely different model partially covered in blood, with at the front a blade symbol and "C17 M5" or "C17 MS" under it.[2]

The version featured in the E3 2003 demo "Tunnels". It is an orange Manhack with grey flaps, and it is featured as the preview image of the leak model. However its model and textures are not in the leak files.

In the leak files, a texture named grenade003.vtf shows a completely yellow model. The model is not available.

Originally, Manhacks were to be able to be reprogrammed by Alyx Vance and used against Combine forces.[3] A similar concept was used in Episode One, in which Alyx would reprogram the Rollermines.

A location called the "Manhack Arcade" was planned, during development, as an entertainment center in City 17. At the Arcade, Citizens would play a video game that consisted of piloting a Manhack to chase down and kill fugitive Citizens, ignorant of the fact that the Manhacks in the games were real, and that people were actually dying.[4][5] The player would have been able to play the game, for which the entity player_manhack was to be used.[2][6]

The Manhack was also planned to be included in Half-Life 2: Survivor's Battle mode as a weapon, but was never finished end eventually got scrapped. It can only be obtained on the PC version by using the debug_equip_weapon 1 console command, but can not be used. The weapon uses the Spark Generator's models, however its own models are present in the game files; the viewmodel's animations indicate that it would allow the players to deploy team-colored Manhacks which could be remotely detonated. Files related to the weapon were last modified on June 19 and August 2, 2007,[7] suggesting that it might have been added in the 2.0 update.